Waiting A George and Fred OneShot
by musical89
Summary: George is having a hard time dealing with the death of his twin. Takes place after the war. One-Shot.


Waiting

I kept waiting for him to show up one day and tell me he was glad I wasn't being stupid like everyone else. That he was fine. He would smile and we would go to the Leaky Cauldron and get some fire whiskey and everything would be grand. That day never came. But I would wait forever.

Everywhere I went I would look for him. I would hope he would emerge from a crowd of wizards and throw his arm around my shoulders and strike up a conversation, something casual like a new product he had in mind. I never saw him until the day that… I did.

/ * ^ * \

It was a day like any other. I woke up at the Burrow and looked across the room to see his empty bed. The sheets and covers were perfect. No one had slept there.

I got up and descended the stairs, holding my breath, hoping I would see him sitting at the table eating breakfast and reading his copy of the Daily prophet. At the end of the table opposite the stairs, there was someone reading the paper. I felt my heart skip a beat and my breathing stopped. I was about to say his name when the paper was lowered and I saw my brother-in-law instead. Harry Potter.

"Good morning." Harry said, looking up from the Prophet.

Beside him, Ginny looked up. She had that concerned expression on her face. "Are you hungry? Mom's not up yet but I could fix you something if you would like."

I shook my head, "I'll just go get something to eat. I will take the car." I went to grab the keys but she grabbed them first.

"I don't think that is a good idea…" she trailed off. She had that look. That 'oh look at my poor brother, he's crazy' look.

"Oh, let him take the car Gin. It's not like he will crash it." Harry said.

Ginny glared at Harry but handed me the keys. I smiled and kissed her cheek on my way out of the house. "Thanks Ginny, love you."

I walked to the car and climbed in. I slipped the key into the ignition and studied the controls quickly. I twisted the key in the ignition and the car roared to life. I drove at a slow pace until I was out of sight of the Burrow then I stepped on the gas and tore through the country-like back roads. I only slowed once I started going into town.

I drove to the café that he and I used to go to. I ordered two drinks, just in case he decided to show up today.

They tried to tell me he was dead. They thought I was crazy but I knew he wasn't dead. After all we had been through he couldn't be. He would never let himself die; he was too strong to die.

I sipped my coffee as I watched the crowds walk by. I hoped he would step forward and take he seat beside me, pick up his coffee, and start cracking jokes. But that did not happen today.

I got up and threw my empty cup in the trash and picked his up. I drank it as I walked. As usual, I kept an eye out for him as I walked through the streets and weaved in and out of crowds of people.

I walked all over town. I visited his favorite places, thinking maybe he would be there. But he wasn't.

I sat on a bench in the park, watching people walk by, when a familiar face passed me and then stopped. She turned around, saw me sitting there by myself, and then started to make her way over to me.

She sat beside me and smiled. "Hello." She said.

"Hello Angelina. How have you been? I haven't spoken to you since school got out." I said, trying to look interested in what she had to say.

"Oh I'm good, real good. I have a try out for the Hollyhead Harpies a little later. Would you like to come?" she asked.

I saw the hope in her eyes so I forced a smile and tried to sound enthusiastic. "Yeah! Sounds fun!"

She smiled and pulled me to my feet. "Come on then."

We walked through the park in awkward silence.

"So, um, how are things?" she asked.

"Alright. Can't really complain, you know?" I said.

"How's Percy doing? I heard he got offered some job in Bulgaria." Angelina said.

That would explain why I had not seen him around the Burrow at all for the past few weeks. I had not thought much of it but I thought someone had mentioned something about Percy getting promoted or something to me one night while I had been sitting on the porch, waiting for him to come home. But he didn't come home that night and that was all I had been focusing on.

I nodded, pretending I knew anything about my family and their activities these days. Pretended I cared what they had been doing. Pretended I hadn't become completely detached. "Yeah, he's doing well. He likes it over there."

Angelina stopped walking. "She told me you were a bit tuned out but I never imagined you were this bad."

I looked at her in confusion.

"Percy didn't take the job. I ran into your mother in Diagon Alley the other day when I was shopping and we stopped to talk for a while. She is really worried about you. She says you have been distant, as if you are waiting for something." She said, looking at me closely, probably gauging me for a reaction.

"Yeah, I am waiting for something alright. I'm waiting for the day he comes back. I'm not going to forget him like all of you have!" I said angrily.

"We have not forgotten him, not at all! But you cannot keep waiting for him to come back. He is not coming back because he is dead." Angelina said. She cupped my face with her hands, trying to get me to listen. "He is dead. It is time to let him go."

_It's time to let him go._ Those were the words dad told me when I could not let him go. When I held him in my arms and told him to just wake up, to just stop acting like he was gone and again when I refused to leave the house because I thought he would come back there. I realized my mistake; I had a better chance of finding him if I went out and looked for him.

"He is not dead. And when he comes back he is going to be so disappointed that you thought so little of him. That you thought he would be so weak as to let himself die. But I don't know, maybe he will forgive you eventually." I said, taking a step back so she could not reach me.

"Why would he stay away for this long? What would his reasoning be? Tell me that much!" Angelina shouted. "Why would he cause us this much pain and pretend to be dead?"

"I don't know his reasons for it but I do know he is alive, I still feel him alive! We're twins, we will always be connected and I know in my heart that he is not dead because I still feel him all around me!" I shouted back.

"That is his spirit you feel around you. My grandmother always told me that once a person dies, their spirit stays with the person who they were closest with. You feel nothing more than his spirit all around you and you will always feel him there with you."

I shook my head. "No. He is not dead. Why can you all not admit that?"

"You were there! You saw him die! You saw it when he was hit with the killing curse! How are you going to say he is still alive after that?" she yelled.

"Because," I yelled back. I felt tears springing to my eyes. "Because he would never leave me here alone! He would never just die and leave me here by myself, without him! He is my other half, he is my brother and I know he would not leave unless he was taking me with him! That is how it has always worked, if one of us went somewhere, the other was pulled along!"

She shook her head angrily, "That is not how death works. He is dead and there is nothing you can do about it. The sooner you get that through your head, the sooner we will all be better off."

I took a deep breath and shook my head. "Sorry, I will not be going to that tryout with you after all but good luck. See you later, Angelina."

I threw the coffee into a trashcan as I passed it. I made my way back to the car, furious. I started it up and began speeding through the streets.

I drove so fast all the trees and buildings and people blended together and looked like a giant blur outside the windows.

I drove so fast all I could hear was the wind rushing in though the open windows.

I drove so fast I didn't see the truck coming straight for me. Didn't hear the loud honking of the horn as the truck driver laid on it. Did not even see it until it hit me.

I felt the car rolling over and over. I saw the windshield smash to pieces. I felt the glass cutting into my skin. Everything went black for a moment until a blinding white light came.

He was standing there in white muggle clothes; jeans and a white, long sleeve, button up shirt and a pair of white shoes. He was finally there.

He pulled me out of the car and dusted the glass off of me and he smiled.

"Wow. I leave you alone for one second and look at the mess you have gotten yourself into." He smiled. "We have to go now, brother." He said.

"Go where?" I asked.

"Shhh." He shushed me. He grabbed my hand and we started walking up as if there was a giant staircase in front of us that I couldn't see.

We reached the top and he hugged me and I clung to him, sobbing. I had found my brother. I had found Fred.


End file.
